Dog Parvo Guide

What is Dog Parvo?

The dog parvo disease is a very serious viral infection that can affect your dog. It is so powerful that it
can affect all of your dogs at the same time. What is worse is the fact that dogs carrying this virus might not
recover. Since there is a small chance that your pet will be fully cured of its condition, it is only right that
you take the necessary precautions to prevent your dog from acquiring this disease.

The dog parvo virus is dangerous because it attacks the white blood cells, intestinal tract, and heart muscles.
When the vital organs are invaded by this virus, they will destroy them until they become non-functional. This
is how the disease can take a dog’s life. The symptoms of this disease are also so extreme that pet owners
will know right away that there is something very wrong with their pet.

When a dog is infected by the parvo virus, it will suffer from severe diarrhea and the dog’s waste will
carry a distinct, foul odor. Vomiting, high fever, loss of appetite, and depression are the things that you will
also observe in a dog suffering from this disease.

Sadly
though, these symptoms indicate that the virus had already invaded most of the vital organs of your pet. In worse
cases, dogs can die in a matter of two days from the day these symptoms show. This means that the virus is in
its worse case before you even know about it. Any attempt to reverse the situation may prove to be futile. This
is especially true of very young dogs with low immune systems.

The parvo virus may also cause complications, such as inflammation of the heart. This condition is mostly seen
in dogs aged three months or younger. Therefore, even if the virus is successfully eliminated from your dog’s
body and the disease is fully cleared, the damage to the heart remains.

If your dog is suffering from the parvo virus, it will need intensive care in order to have a fighting chance
against the disease. The first line of treatment is to address dehydration caused by diarrhea. Then again, even
the best veterinarian will tell you that there is a high chance that your dog will not totally recover from its
condition, even with intensive care.

Dog parvo is a very contagious disease. Parvo can live outside of a dog’s body for some
time. As such, it can be transferred from one dog to another very easily. When a dog licks, sniffs, or even get
in contact with the waste of another dog suffering from the disease, that dog will become infected as well.

The best and only way to prevent the parvo virus from infecting your pet and from entering into your household
is to vaccinate all your dogs. The shots for dog parvo are available at the veterinarian’s office. The parvo
vaccine is usually given in three shots, with each one scheduled at some time apart from the other. When your
dog is old enough, it will be given a booster shot to complete the immunization process.